Matt Smith tells Now Magazine that he isn't worried about being type-cast: "playing the Doctor hasn't prevented Christopher Eccleston or David Tennant from taking on other parts." He also commented on the length of Karen's Gillan skirts in the series: "I know those short skirts caused a furore but I say bring them on. I see nothing wrong with celebrating women and their sexiness. There's absolutely nothing exploitative or demeaning about it."

Karen Gillan made a special appearance on Monday at her old haunt the Eden Court Theatre in Inverness, where she was called onto the stage to help clean it and then get gunked in goo as part of the show's "grotty totty". Says theatre marketing manager Laurie Piper: "all the way through the show the writer, Iain Laughlan, incorporated 23 Dr Who jokes, so some audience members might have had an idea what was going on. When Karen was called on to the stage, the kids loved it and everyone was delighted. She did it in great spirit." The actress recently became Arts Education Ambassador at the theatre. [Aberdeen Press and Journal]

John Barrowman has had to pull out of his pantomime Aladdin (SECC, Glasgow); the theatre reports: "In terms of future performances, as time goes on it is a case of evaluating his health prior to a performance to see if he is match-fit. John is genuinely disappointed at not being able to make the performances he has missed due to the flu virus – he is a professional who will always perform should he be able to. He is doing everything he can to make a full recovery." Meanwhile, his role is being played by his cousin Greg Barrowman. [Glasgow Evening Times, Herald Scotland]

Former Doctor David Tennant came fourth in a poll of the "most sexy celebrity in glasses", carried out by the College of Optometrists. He was beaten by fashion designer Gok Wan, actor Johnny Depp and comedian Alan Carr.

Finally, the New Years Honours list sees a couple of Doctor Who guest stars honoured: Burt Kwouk (Lin Futu, Four to Doomsday) is to be awarded an OBE and actress Sheila Hancock (Helen A, The Happiness Patrol) will receive a CBE for services to drama. [more details and video for Hancock at BBC News]

A young Doctor Who fan had his dream come true when he got the chance to meet Matt Smith thanks to Smith's local paper the Northampton Chronicle and Echo.

Alfe Game was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma when he was just five and spent last Christmas in Hospital. He went into remission in the summer and has since dedicated hours of his time to helping children in a similar position to himself, collecting toys for presents for children and designing Christmas cards to be sold to fund presents for friends who have relapsed with leukaemia.

As a thank-you for his hard work, the paper set up a surprise Christmas Eve visit from the Eleventh Doctor, who was born and grew up in Northampton.

After the visit Alfe Game said
Meeting Doctor Who was fantastic. When I heard I was going to meet him I was so excited I was crying inside and when I saw him on my doorstep I was so happy. I’ve got what I wanted for Christmas. This has been the best Christmas yet.

Smith told the Chronicle & Echo
We talked a lot about Doctor Who and what he wanted for Christmas, and then he showed me his presents, but we were just hanging out really. It’s nice to see how inspired children are by Doctor Who and how much of a difference it can make sometimes, when you hear about them meeting in hospital, talking about it and bonding over it. This has been a wonderful experience.

More details and a video clip of the meeting can be seen on the paper's website.

The BBC One lunchtime repeat series continued on Wednesday when of the 2007 Christmas special, Voyage of the Damned, had an audience of 1.4 million viewers according to unofficial overnight figures.

The programme which stars David Tennant as the tenth Doctor and Kylie Minogue as Astrid Peth, had a 12.7% share of the audience. The second half of the programme won its timeslot outrating Oliver Twist on ITV1.

Wednesday, 29 December 2010

Doctor Who:A Christmas Carol had an average audience of 727,000 viewers for its first showing on BBC America on Christmas Day.

TV by the Numbers report the figure, which is for the 9-10.20pm showing on the channel. Last year the first part of The End of Time, which was shown the day after Christmas, achieved 671,000 viewers in the same timeslot.

Tuesday, 28 December 2010

Washinomiya Shrine, the Tokyo area's oldest shrine and a real-life backdrop for the Lucky Star anime series, predicts that about 500,000 visitors will come over the first three days of the new year. Otaku have been flocking to this shrine since the 2007 anime featured Kagami and Tsukasa Hiiragi — twin sister characters who supposedly work at the shrine as miko (shrine maidens).

Since the anime premiered, attendance during the New Year's holiday season has grown five times bigger — from 90,000 in 2007 and 300,000 in 2008 to 420,000 in 2009 and 450,000 this year.

Local shops began offering "Tsundare Worcestershire Sauce" (a word play on the character archetype "tsundere") in Kagami's bittersweet flavor and Tsukasa's balsamic vinegar-infused flavor varieties at the end of last year, and they sold 13,000 bottles. On December 31, 20 stores will begin selling the new "Tsundare Umakara (Sweet-and-Spicy) Sauce" (pictured at left) with kimchi in two varieties: Kagami's gekitsun spicy flavor (spicy level 3) and Tsukasa's balsamic vinegar flavor (spicy level 1).

The local Saitama Shimbun paper will distribute a free special edition handout of its Monthly Saitamania feature from December 31 to January 3. Stores will also sell DVDs of Keiichi Kitagawa's Washimiya*Story (Washimiya*Monogatari) film. Toru Kamitsuru of Watanabe Entertainment's D-BOYS acting group stars as a young man who returns to his hometown and discovers that it has become a haven for anime fans. Former AKB48 members Yuka Masuda and Ayumi Orii co-star in the film.

The shrine hosted its first otaku matchmaking event in November, and it paired seven couples — after 501 people applied for 40 spots.

Doctor Who returns to Italy next month, when the state broadcaster RAI brings the show to their entertainment channel RAI 4 available on digital terrestrial television in Italy and digital satellite television through Tivù Sat.

The channel has acquired all five series of modern Doctor Who as well as the specials. Day and time of broadcast are, at present, still under development but the channel has confirmed via their Facebook page that the series will start sometime in January.

The first three series were previously shown on satellite television in Italy and RAI will be using the same dubbed transmission tapes when they show the series. The fourth and fifth series will be new to the country. The translation is being handled by BBC Worldwide.

The Appreciation Index or AI is a measure of how much the audience enjoyed the programme. Although the score is down slightly on previous years, it was still the second highest AI on BBC One for Christmas Evening with just The Royle Family scoring more with 84.

The Sunday evening BBC Three repeat was watched by 527,000 viewers.

With overnight ratings available for the whole week, Doctor Who finished fourth, with a decent chance of moving up the chart when the official figures are released next week.

Sunday January 23rd, 2011 from 10pm to late, at the beachfront La Cote in the Fontainebleau Resort in South Beach a.k.a. Miami Beach, Florida there will be a Saban Brands and Marvista Entertainment's Power Rangers Samurai Party, a high-octane start to four days of beach-front celebrations of the best in entertainment in the VIP area. To go, you would have to be a member of the NATPE (National Association of Television Program Executives) and it is around $125 for membership and to attend the events.

0:03 An angry man, who seems French and from the 14th to 17th centuries, asking where the Doctor is.
0:06 A formidable Nazi leader enters a cabin, flanked by two soldiers.
0:07 The Doctor, Amy and River race out of the TARDIS (from episode one or two).
0:08 The Doctor guides Idris, who seems to be from the same period as shown in 0:03 (episode three, written by Neil Gaiman).
0:09 Men in suits approach someone, or something, in a factory-like place (from episode one or two).
0:12 A leader of the Men in Black points a gun at the Doctor (episode one).
0:17 The Doctor in the Oval Office needs "a SWAT team ready to mobilise, street-level maps covering Florida, a pot of coffee, twelve jammie dodgers and a fez"! (episode one).
0:18 An amazing overhead shot of the Utah desert (episode one or two).
0:20 A car (most likely belong to the Men in Black) races across the desert (episode one or two).
0:25 He wears a Stetson now. Stetsons are cool. . .
0:27 Until River shoots it off (à la fez).
0:28 River plays cowgirls.
0:29 “Do not approach the prisoner” in Area 51!
0:31 The Doctor is the prisoner (with a beard)!
0:32 The TARDIS from “The Lodger”! And it looks like River has discovered it (in her episode one/two clothes).
0:33 The Doctor and Idris on a hill (episode three).
0:34 A spaceman reaches out in a darkened house (very "Silence in the Library") (from episode one or two, regarding "Apollo Ten-and-a-half").
0:35 "You have to do this and you can’t ask why" - is it just me, or does Amy look and sound possessed, and not like normal Amy?
0:35 The TARDIS isn’t happy, and the Doctor and Rory are inside (not from episode one or two).
0:37 Amy looking frightened in the house seen in 0:34 (with added lightening).
0:38 The Doctor holding a glowing box in the TARDIS (not from episode one, two or four).
0:38 River. Naked. Winking. *Dies*
0:39 A running Amy reaches the end of the road (episode one or two).
0:39 Why does that not look like Karen Gillan?
0:40 So that’s why she was running!
0:41 Good ol’ fashioned running through corridors.
0:42 Nooooooooooooo!!! Rory!
0:43 So they were running from Ood! With green eyes! (We told ya).
0:43 Creepy dolls! Yay! (from episode four).
0:44 Amy screaming with tally marks covering her face (from episode one or two, supposedly, she’s upstairs in a room with the Silents (Silence?)).
0:47 His life in her hands. Why does she look possessed again?!
0:53 River has the tally marks on her arms. . . Is she in the same place as in 0:09?
0:56 Scared face time for Rory.
0:57 A Grey alien!

John Barrowman (Captain Jack Harkness) has won the Christmas edition of Strictly Come Dancing. He told the Daily Mail that on the possibility of hosting the dance show: "If [Bruce Forsyth, current host] were to offer those dancing shoes to me, I would gladly take them. It would be an incredible gig.".

Katherine Jenkins (Abigail Pettigrew, A Christmas Carol) was due to sing for the troops with James Blunt in Afghanistan but because of the snowy weather hitting the UK the plane was unable to take off. She posted to her Twitter account: "Am so gutted - words can't describe how disappointed we all are." The BBC have a video of Katherine singing for the troops on board the plane.

Jane Espenson (Writer, Torchwood: The New World) has indicated via her Twitter page that she'll be producing the episodes that she writes for The New World.

David Harewood (Joshua Naismith, The End of Time) has joined the cast of forthcoming US Showtime drama pilot Homeland. Deadline has more information about his role.

Carey Mulligan (Sally Sparrow, Blink) is on the front cover of ELLE UK for January 2011 which features an interview with her. There is a behind the scenes video of the photo shoot for the magazine. Click here for more details about the issue.

Daphne Ashbrook (Grace Holloway, TV Movie) has released her first music CD entitled Grace Notes. It is available to download from iTunes and other online stores. Daphne was talking about her new CD and musical career with The Happiness Patrol podcast.

David Tennant has narrated Polar Bear: Spy on the Ice. The BBC YouTube channel has uploaded 3 preview clips. 1, 2 and 3.

A Christmas Carol has debuted in Australia to good ratings. TV Tonight reports that Carol averaged 880,000 viewers in the five major capital cities, despite stiff competition from the commercial networks. It won its time-slot, was the Australian Broadcasting Corporation's top-rating drama of the day and was the eighth highest rating programme of the day overall. Doctor Who at the Proms also rated a respectable 141,000 viewers at the early timeslot of 5pm.

The fast-tracking of the Christmas special has also attracted considerable local media, including a number of interviews with Matt Smith and Karen Gillan. Gillan has been interviewed by the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times, while Smith has spoken to the Herald-Sun, the Sunday Telegraph and the Sun-Herald where he expresses the hope of visiting Australia.

The Sydney Morning Herald has also rated 'A Christmas Carol' its 'show of the week' with Michael Idato writing that it 'is sure to be the firmest and finest footprint in the life of the 11th doctor so far.'
Discuss this item at

Boxing Day shoppers and restaurant goers got an unexpected surprise in the middle of Melbourne when the giant screen in Federation Square switched from the end of Australia's tragic day's play in the Ashes to a live feed from ABC TV showing the entirety of the 2010 Christmas Special!

UK press coverage in the aftermath of A Christmas Carol have been muted so far, with only a few of the broadsheets reviewing the episode; of those, both Dan Martin from the Guardian and Phil Hogan from the Observer were positive on what they saw:

Dan Martin: Moffat scripts are always ingenious, but A Christmas Carol is a remarkably small-scale caper. There's no malevolent alien invasion force – just Michael Gambon perfectly cast as a lonely old man with a grudge against the world in general and Christmas in particular. Because we need a behind-the-sofa sequence there's the flying shark, but "Clive" (as she was dubbed by the production team to ward off spoilers) turns out not to be a baddie after all. And while we don't want to belittle the lives of 4004 people, the stakes are remarkably low – no threat of enslavement of a population, no nuclear Armageddon circling the Earth, no madmen flirting with the end of reality. Which feels right – because Christmas isn't really about those things. It's about the kind of warm and shameless sentimentality in which this episode deals, a time where it always snows and love always saves the day.

A Christmas Carol riffs magnificently and faithfully on the beauty and simplicity of its source material. At Christmas people always talk about the Greatest Story Ever Told in other terms, but this is a sumptuous triumph from start to finish.

Read the full review here.
Phil Hogan: It was a pity that Sardick's journey to niceness via fear and self-loathing had to bring so abrupt an end to his excellent scathing wit, but I suppose you don't want an audience grinning too much through the heart-thawing and ground-out repentance. Things worked out in the end, though not without some syrupy longueurs as the now twentysomething Sardick fell in love with the fragrant Katherine (playing the fragrant Abigail) only to find – after umpteen slightly uneventful secret outings from her cold prison – that she only had one day left to live. I'm sorry to say that in my mind's eye I could only see hordes of philistines wandering off to the kitchen for a mini pork pie during her big aria, but what's the point of hiring a world-class Welsh mezzo-soprano if you're not going to give the girl a bit of quality emoting time?

Read the full review here.

However, not everybody was happy with the Christmas serving of Doctor Who, with Chris Harvey of the Telegraph being quite negative about it:

Phew, that was a bit rich, wasn’t it? I think I’ve eaten too much. I’m not sure if it was that festive sleigh-ride across the rooftops in a carriage pulled by a giant fog-breathing shark that had been tamed by the sweet song of a cryogenically frozen maiden that did it, but I actually feel rather queasy.

Of course, Matt Smith’s first Christmas Special as the Doctor had been written with the word “Christmassy” in mind, it’s not really for old curmudgeons like me, who got more of a kick out of Michael Gambon’s miserly Kazran Sardick when he was sneering and snarling at the beginning of the episode than when he had been thoroughly heartwarmed by the end.
But there was just something so overblown about the whole thing, it reminded me of the worst excesses of the Russell T Davies era, when everything just kept getting bigger, louder, more operatic… feebler.

Read the full review here.

In other places, the Metro concentrated on how Katherine Jenkins was being received by people on social communication tool Twitter, quoting several fans for and against the singer's first acting role.

Further reviews may be found from Seenit, Den of Geek and On The Box; further links will be added via Doctor Who in the Media over the forthcoming days.

Unofficial overnight figures show Doctor Who: A Christmas Carol was watched by an audience of 10.3 million on BBC One and BBC One HD last night.

The programme was the second highest rated for the day with EastEnders taking the top place with 11.4 million. The new Matt Lucas / David Walliams comedy, Come Fly With Me was third with just a few thousand viewers short of Doctor Who.

Once again the BBC triumphed with eight of the top ten places. Against Doctor Who ITV scheduled Emmerdale, which got 7.2 million watching. Doctor Who got a share of 39.8% of the total audience.

So far Doctor Who is the fourth most watched programme for the week, behind one Coronation Street and two EastEnders.

1.3 million watched the programme on BBC One HD.

Last year, Doctor Who achieved an overnight rating of 10.4 million watching on BBC One and BBC HD, and was third for the day.

On BBC Three Doctor Who Confidential had 207,000 watching, a 0.8% share of the audience.

It is important to note that the overnight figures are an initial estimate. Final figures, including those who record the programme and watch it within a week, will be published by BARB in around 8 days time.

NB: The 9am Christmas Day repeat of The Sarah Jane Adventures, Death of the Doctor, got an overnight rating of 1.4 million, far higher than its initial showing on the channel.

Friday, 24 December 2010

In the above promotional movie, Nene Anegasaki — one of the three virtual girlfriends in Konami's Loveplus software — serves as a producer to develop the newest flavor of Halls mentholated candy cough drops. (The manufacturer, Cadbury Japan, thought it was necessary to write in fine print in the video, "This is fictional.")
Nene is known from the various Loveplus releases for liking throat drops. In the video, the high school senior suggests to the development team that they need a blend that is just little bit sweeter until they find the perfect flavor. The Halls Pink Grapefruit candy will go on sale in Japan on January 31, and there will be a version with Nene on the wrapper around next June.

The promotional video was one of several items showcased during Wednesday's "Loveplus Christmas Event: Merry +mas 2010" event in Tokyo. Konami also confirmed that the previously announced Project Loveplus for Nintendo 3DS game will be developed entirely from scratch.

There will be a Visa card with an original design by the game's designer Tarō Mino and bonus gifts for registering and accruing points. The Utau Loveplus music CD will go on sale on January 27 with 10 tracks, including "Eien Diary," "Hohemi Photograph," and a new song. There will be two new arcade games: Loveplus Arcade Colorful Clip and Loveplus Happy Daily Life.

The British publisher Alma Books will be printing an English-language translation of The Girl Who Leapt Through Time (Toki o Kakeru Shōjo) — Yasutaka Tsutsui's novel that inspired the 2006 anime film of the same name — on May 26, 2011. The original novel revolves around a 15-year-old girl who discovers that she can "leap" back and forth through time, an ability she uses in an attempt to discover the source of her powers. David James Karashima translated Alma Books' version, which has a list price of 7.99 British pounds (about US$12.36).

Mamoru Hosoda (Summer Wars) directed the award-winning anime film which serves as a loose sequel to the novel. The novel also inspired multiple manga adaptations. Gaku Tsugano directly adapted the novel for The Girl Who Runs Through Time manga, which CMX published. On the other hand, Ranmaru Kotone adapted Hosoda's film into a manga, and Bandai Books published that version in North America.

Alma Books also published Paprika, Tsutsui's surreal novel that inspired a 2006 anime film by the late director Satoshi Kon. Other Tsutsui works in English include The Maid, Salmonella Men on Planet Porno, Hell, What the Maid Saw: Eight Psychic Tales, and The African Bomb and Other Stories. Tokyopop published Telepathic Wanderers, Sayaka Yamazaki's manga adaptation of Tsutsui's Nanase Futatabi novel.

he official website of the AGC38 character project has announced on Friday that production on an animated music video for AGC38's "Sorette Dakara ne!" song has been green-lit. All 38 female characters will appear in this video which will recount a "heartful story." The song will be officially released next spring.

The anime studio Asahi Production had announced the creation of the project itself in September. Asahi described the project as the first talent and entertainment unit composed of 38 female characters. In Asahi's plans, this unit will perform for merchandise branding, in commercials, on television programs, and in virtual shops. Asahi has been planning on anime and manga for the project since its beginning. The producers began auditioning the voice actresses for the characters at Tokyo's Akihabara district in September.

Just a reminder there is a season 6 Trailer after Doctor Who A Christmas Carol tomorrow.

It starts with Paul Critoph wearing clothes from a similar era to Girl in the Fireplace (no wigs and clockwork men though). Both River and Amy are seen covered in the tally marks noticed during filming. A bearded Doctor (possibly a clone of the Doctor?) and a naked River Song (well as naked as you can be in a family show).

Plus the Oval Office, various monsters, someone in a spacesuit, the Doctor in a Stetson, an Ood, a squadron of Nazis, a big china doll and what appears to be a classic grey alien (a-la-X Files). It does seem very episode 1 and 2 heavy BTW!

Tomorrow (Christmas Day) sees BBC Radio One present The Tinsel Takeover 2010, a programme running throughout the day featuring twenty-seven Radio One listeners getting to present a fifteen minute show.

At around midday, Doctor Who gets a look-in with fan Adrian Davies taking on the mantel of presenting, as he tells the Doctor Who News Page:

I wanted to let you know I’m really excited and thrilled because I’m going to on the UK BBC Radio 1 on Christmas Day, they are doing an event called The Tinsel Takeover where listeners have had the chance to submit ideas for a 15 minute show including clips and music and they liked mine which I called Doctor Who at Christmas!

I’m going to be on tomorrow around 12pm, this link goes to a nice festive photo of me and I think will then include a link to the iPlayer for listening to it for up to 7 days after the show has been on.

I’m very excited about the show, but also rather nervous in case it doesn’t sound great, but we’ll see!! And being on a BBC channel on Christmas Day and when a new Doctor Who special is on BBC 1 later that day as well is incredibly thrilling……

Unfortunately as I had a cold and sore throat when I recorded Doctor Who at Christmas my voice isn’t at it’s best, oh well I was hoping I might sound good for voice overs but it’s such a fantastic opportunity and I’m so thrilled about it and hope it’s a bit of very un-cynical fun where I delight in the Christmas Doctor Who stories. Hopefully I don’t sound too geeky on it….. Oops….

Today saw a celebrity takeover of the radio station with the Top Ten of 2010; the 8:00-9:00am slot featured Doctor Who stars Matt Smith and Karen Gillan presenting their favourite songs for the year - the show is repeated on Boxing Day at 2:00pm and is available to listen to on the BBC iPlayer until New Year's Eve

CNN have reported that plans are afoot to broadcast the sixth series of Doctor to the United States within hours of airing in the United Kingdom.

Addressing the issue of fans downloading episodes via the Internet way ahead of their broadcast in the USA, the vice president of programming at BBC America, Richard de Croce, said:
(It) means fans love the shows so much they can't wait to see them.

And that's the world we live in, in terms of technology, quite honestly. So let's air these shows as quickly as we can post the UK's transmission.

Plans are in the works for season six of "Doctor Who" to be broadcast the same day in the United States as well.
Tomorrow's broadcast of A Christmas Carol will be the first time American fans will be able to watch Doctor Who on the same evening as those in the UK, with Australia and Canada following suit a day later.

However, it hasn't always been the case of Doctor Who being a UK first; the 1996 TV Movie aired in the USA and Canada a couple of weeks before the BBC, and back in 1983 American fans actually got to see the 20th Anniversary story The Five Doctors on PBS two days before those in the United Kingdom!

Matt Smith's debut as the Eleventh Doctor is the most watched programme on the BBC iPlayer for the year so far according to the BBC.

The BBC iPlayer celebrates its third Birthday this Christmas with over 1.3 billion requests being made throughout 2010. The Eleventh Hour accounted for 2.2 million of these hits with the rest of the series averaging around 1.5 million hits each.

Top Gear was the second most requested programme, with over half a million fewer requests than Doctor Who.

Daniel Danker, General Manager, Programmes and On Demand, said:
BBC iPlayer has had a remarkable year – with well over 100 million requests for programmes each month of 2010 and over 1.3 billion programmes played through the year. In 2011 we will bring BBC iPlayer to even more licence fee payers, dramatically increasing our investment in BBC iPlayer on mobile and TV, and laying the foundation for an incredibly interactive London 2012 experience.

As part of the BBC's commitment to increase the reach of BBC iPlayer, the service is now available on around 40 different devices. For those who enjoy watching on-demand from the comfort of the living room, BBC iPlayer can be found on a range of TVs including Samsung, LG, and Sony Bravia, Blu-Ray disc players, Nintendo Wii and PS3 games consoles, and Virgin Media and Freesat set-top boxes. For those on the go, the BBC iPlayer mobile site can be accessed from phones and tablets including Apple iPads, iPhones and selected models of BlackBerry, Android, Nokia, Samsung, HTC and Sony Ericsson phones.

TV Top 20: best-performing episode per title/series, 1 January 2010 to 17 December 2010

Twisted Media, "a creative collective producing audio, visual and interactive media" have been hired to work on Torchwood: The New World.

The company first announced via their Twitter page that they have been hired to create graphics for the upcoming series of Torchwood. The Chicago Tribune reported yesterday about Twisted Media's work on another TV show called Leverage and mentioned the work on Torchwood.

Derek Frederickson has landed another TV series. He was just hired to work on 10 episodes of "Torchwood," the spinoff of the long-running "Dr. Who" series. Frederickson described the show as "sort of a 'X-Files'-ish division that investigates alien and supernatural activity." Previous seasons of the show have already aired on BBC America; the new season (which will include Bill Pullman and Mekhi Phifer as series regulars) changes the setting from Wales to the U.S. and will air on Starz.

"It's actually a perfect show for Twisted Media because it's aliens and sci-fi and all sorts of computers and technical, science stuff," Frederickson said. "The first script was a total page-turner Ã‚-- I was going nuts reading it. Being a fan of the show, too, and reading this, I'm like, 'Oh my God, I can't wait to see this on-screen.'"

Which means the next few months will be busy for both Frederickson and [Tom] Slattery. "Torchwood" begins shooting in January

John Barrowman has told The Scottish Sun that the BBC and the Starz Network are planning to make seven years of Torchwood.

Barrowman, who is currently appearing in Aladdin at Glasgow's Clyde Auditorium told the paper:
I have turned down a load of other shows to make Torchwood. We'll be filming it in LA as it's now a collaboration between the BBC and the Starz Network in America. They're planning to make it for the next seven years. So I'll be spending six months a year in Hollywood and six back in the UK.

Torchwood: The New World is currently in production for transmission in the summer of 2011

The BBC has released the fourth Episode in The Adventure Games Series: Shadows of the Vashta Nerada in the United Kingdom.

The game was expected on Christmas Day, but today has been made available to download from the BBC Website.

The game is written by Phil Ford - author of the first 'gamisode' in the series, City of the Daleks and is available in a Windows and a Mac version.

As with the previous games, Shadows of the Vashta Nerada will be available for purchase worldwide on the PC platform at a later date from Direct2Drive, who will release both this and the third game TARDIS together as a bundle; however, the Mac version will not be available outside the UK.

Wednesday, 22 December 2010

The British Film Institute has uploaded an 8 minute clip taken from the recent Q & A with Matt Smith, Katherine Jenkins and Stephen Moffat, which took place after the South Bank screening of the episode earlier this month

The latest and final issue of Torchwood Magazine has been released. The official Torchwood Magazine Facebook page posted earlier today: "The final issue of Torchwood Magazine is now on sale. Make sure you get your copy as this is going to be a collector's item!".

Issue contents:
Interview: John Barrowman reveals his thoughts about being Captain Jack and returning in Torchwood: The New World.
We talk to Eve Myles about playing Torchwood's action mum, Gwen Cooper.
For our final issue, we take a look back at some of the most memorable things the stars said about Children of Earth.
Archivist Andrew Pixley charts the development and day-by-day production of the episode that saw Owen face up to life, death and Tintin.
In the last ever Beyond the Hub, Kate Lloyd takes a flying trip through the remaining worlds of weirdness we never quite got round to...
A brand new Toshiko Sato adventure by James Moran, with art by Adrian Salmon.
Owen Harper waves a ghostly tale in a new adventure by Trevor Baxendale, with art by Ben Willsher.
A time travel adventure in the midst of the Cardiff Blitz, by Gary Russell and John Ridgway.
Gwen is forced to go it alone in an epic adventure by Steve Tribe and James Goss, with art by Mike Dowling.
The first issue of the magazine was released on 24 January 2008 and was originally printed every four weeks until Issue 14 when they moved to being a bi-monthly production with a larger page count. [Wikipedia]

Some page samples for the issue can be viewed from the BBC's official Torchwood Facebook page

The Doctor Who Confidential preview of A Christmas Carol is now available via the Red Button service on Freeview and Sky/Virgin media.

The preview is Day One of a video blog by Charlie McDonnell, who explores the Doctor Who set. Further segments are expected at 6pm each day, leading up to the broadcast of the episode itself on Christmas Day.

Tuesday, 21 December 2010

Silva Screen has announced that February will see the release of the soundtrack to Doctor Who - A Christmas Carol, this year’s Christmas Special. The soundtrack features classical music superstar Katherine Jenkins - both part of the cast and singer on Abigail’s Song.

The music is composed by now Doctor Who composer of choice Murray Gold and performed by the excellent BBC National Orchestra of Wales and Crouch End Festival Chorus. The album will be released both physically and digitally.

Monday, 20 December 2010

Barney Harwood (Totally Doctor Who, The Infinite Quest) is to become the 35th presenter of the long running BBC children's show Blue Peter. He joins joins current presenters Helen Skelton and Andy Akinwolere on 17 January 2011. [BBC Press release]

Sophie Okonedo (Liz Ten, The Beast Below, The Pandorica Opens) was award with an OBE for services to drama in the Queen's Birthday Honours list for 2010. She received press attention when the medal fell from her dress and landed at the feet of the Prince of Wales, from where she had to retrieve it. The ceremony took place at Buckingham Palace on 17 December.

Catherine Tate (Donna Noble) will feature in Sky 1's Little Crackers tomorrow (Monday) night at 9pm. Catherine has written and directed a short 10 minute film about her time as a shy schoolgirl who "would rather wet herself in class than put her hand up to ask to go to the toilet". You can watch a preview of her film and more on the Little Crackers website.

David Tennant and Derek Jacobi (Professor Yana/The Master, Utopia) will be reading Bedtime Stories for CBeebies over the Holiday period. Full schedule here.

Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams) and Katherine Jenkins (Abigail Pettigrew, A Christmas Carol) have done Q&A's with Digital Spy about their time working on this year's Christmas special.

Saturday, 18 December 2010

The popular quiz show, Eggheads, has a Doctor Who-themed special on BBC TWO on Monday at 6pm.

It features former 6th Doctor, Colin Baker, alongside Frazer Hines (Jamie), Louise Jameson (Leela), John Leeson (the voice of K-9) and Katy Manning (Jo Jones, nee Grant). The Doctor Who team take on the resident panel comprised of former quiz show winners.

Its K9 day on terrestrial TV, on Channel 5 today (18-12-10) at 10am they are starting to show the new K9 series from episode one. As its not canon, or has as many fans as the rest of the Whoniverse, I'll not post a countdown to it, but episode one is your chance to see the original BBC style K9 (Mark 1) before he regenerates.

Starkey and Jorjie are trying to escape the police and take refuge in a large house, the residence of reclusive scientist, Professor Gryffen. Inside they see Gryffen absorbed in an experiment, a Space Time Manipulator. Darius who among his many occupations, runs errands for Gryffen, confronts the pair, but a portal opens and two reptilian warrior Jixen burst through. The Jixen try to attack Starkey but the teenager is saved by a small dog-like robot, K9 Mark I...

In the latest Production Notes, a monthly Doctor Who Magazine feature, Steven Moffat talked about a very interesting topic: the Doctor not just being a hero, but becoming like a man, with true emotions. . .

. . . And the Doctor! It's funny, but sometimes it's hard to keep him right at the centre of the story. I mean, he's always right in the middle of the plot, sure, but the story? Oh, how he slides away, evades, refuse to explain. Is it time to pin him down, make him talk? If he's to be a living, breathing character, one you care about, he has to be more than a hero - he has to be a man. Never cruel and never cowardly, wrote the wonderful Terrance Dicks of our hero - but surely that's an aspiration, not a fact. Because I wonder, just as I type, what might happen if the Doctor got angry? Not cross, not frustrated - properly, seriously angry. What would it take to make him that way, and what would happen then? Enough theory. Time to go back to my script and find out.

The Ood are back! According to many sites, like Doctor Who Spoilers (which is fairly reliable), the slaves return in Series 6, appearing in the trailer at the end of "A Christmas Carol". Piers Wenger stated that no Classic Who monsters are returning, but he didn't rule out post-2005 creatures!

Buzz Magazine - the free TV listings magazine that comes with The Sun on Saturdays - today features Matt Smith and Karen Gillan on the front cover, with the issue itself featuring the two Doctor Who stars chatting together.

Matt on his friendship with Karen:
We’ll go to the supermarket every night, get a sandwich, and trot home to learn lines. Sometimes we’ll phone each other and say: ‘How’s it going? Really badly? Me too. Do you want to come over and practise?

I’m terribly fond of Karen - we’re good pals. I’ve learnt how to make her laugh during filming. I can say a word in a silly voice, and she’ll go. Karen can do it to me to. It’s that old Smith-Gillan banter - it’s become quite famous on set.
Karen agrees:
We have such a laugh, except when he does his ‘moth thing’ because I am scared of moths.

The Sun is also giving away a DVD featuring David Tennant's final story The End of Time and Matt Smith's first, The Eleventh Hour.

The BBC has confirmed the times that the red button preview for A Christmas Carol, announced here last week, will be available.
Follow internet sensation and video blogger Charlie McDonnell as he gives you an exclusive insight behind the scenes of A Christmas Carol and watch out for some extra special festive treats along the way. Check back each day at 6pm for the latest update from Charlie.

Disappointingly, Doctor Who Magazine hasn't revealed too much about "A Christmas Carol". There is however another synopsis and a quote:

Four thousand souls aboard a crashing space liner are going to die - and Kazran Sardick doesn't give a hoot. He controls the machinery that can save them, but he refuses to life a finger. And on Christmas Eve, too! The Doctor thinks he sees a glimmer of hope, so he embarks on a journey back through Kazran's past in a desperate attempt to change the future. . .
Kazran Sardick: On every world, wherever people are, in the deepest point of winter, at the exact mid-point. . . everybody stops, and turns, and hugs. As if to say, "Well done, everyone. . . we're halfway out of the dark." Back on Earth, we called this Christmas. Or the Winter Solstice. But do you know what I call it? I call it expecting something for nothing!
Is Kazran originally from Earth? It seems so, by reading his speech.

Following Series 4's amazing success, details regarding Sarah Jane's fifth year of CBBC adventures have been revealed. Three of the six stories have already been fully completed, but it will be another ten months until they're broadcast. Producer Brian Minchin said:

2011 will see a new arrival at Bannerman Road which will change Sarah Jane's life forever; great guest stars including Peter Bowles, Christine Stephen-Daly and James Dreyfus; the mystery of the Man Who Never Was; powerful and even heartbreaking stories for Clyde and Rani, with fantastic new aliens, and maybe even the return of a certain mysterious parrot and his pet Shopkeeper. And although Luke's gone to Oxford, Tommy Knight will be back - not just in a cameo, appearing on the computer, but in a fully fledged adventure.

Finished reading? So we've got the return of Luke for a story and the return of a delightfully mystical duo - that parrot and the Shopkeeper. Oh, and something that will "change life on Bannerman Road forever". But we've been told that before, way back when Series 4 started. Let's face it - Ruby White wasn't all that life-changing, was she?

While many viewers in the English speaking world will be enjoying Matt Smith's first Christmas special as The Doctor this year, viewers in France will be bidding farewell to the Tenth Doctor when France 4 broadcasts both parts of The End of Time this Christmas Day.

Docteur Who : La Prophétie de Noël will be broadcast at 8.35. The title translates as The Christmas Prophecy.

The story was dubbed into French last March with David Manet making his swan song as the voice of the Tenth Doctor.

The latest issue of Doctor Who Magazine celebrates Christmas, with detailed coverage of the forthcoming A Christmas Carol and interviews with Steven Moffat (writer), Toby Haynes (director) and Matt Smith (The Doctor).

Says Matt on working with his co-star for the adventure, Sir Michael Gambon:

Michael is a naughty man, a naughty actor! He’s hugely interesting, everyone on set could have listened to his stories all day! And then the cameras start rolling and he’s just captivating...

In this issue:

The Universe According To Tom! To many, he will always be the Doctor! The legendary TOM BAKER doesn’t hold back as he tells DWM what it was really like being the Fourth Doctor – and his true feelings about the others who have starred in the role he made his own.
Feelin' Groovy! The irrepressible Katy Manning, last seen as Jo Jones (née Grant) in The Sarah Jane Adventures story Death of the Doctor, gives her most revealing interview ever! Discover what happened to the kookiest companion of them all, after she left the Doctor in The Green Death – and just what Katy herself did next...
That's Grand! She played the Doctor’s granddaughter, and appeared in the very first episode of Doctor Who in 1963 – and now she’s back! Carole Ann Ford, who plays Susan Foreman, talks exclusively to DWM about her latest adventures on audio.
A Load of Old Bull? Bull-headed monsters, OTT Villains and the Fourth Doctor at his silliest! Yes, it’s time at last for The Fact of Fiction to scrutinise the infamous story that took Doctor Who into the 1980s – The Horns of Nimon!
The Mind Robber! Put down that mince pie and get ready for the ultimate Doctor Who challenge, as the Watcher proudly presents his fiendishly difficult Christmas Quiz – tough enough to tax even the most dedicated fan! How will YOU fare... ?
That Was The Year That Was! DWM takes a look back at one of the most unforgettable years in Doctor Who’s history – this one! Relieve all the highlights of 2010 – the year that saw the début of the Eleventh Doctor’s and Amy – in DWM’s annual review of the year.
Plus, Steven Moffat discusses what kittens, plot arcs and multi-coloured Cybermen (with noses) have in common in his Production Notes, the young Amelia and Rory discover a wondrous bookshop that's bigger on the inside in comic strip The Professor, The Queen and the Bookshop, and the usual news, reviews and competitions.

Thursday, 16 December 2010

From the visionary directory of THE GIRL WHO LEAPT THROUGH TIME (2007 Japanese Academy Prize winner, Best Animated Feature) comes the story of an ordinary family going to extraordinary lengths to avert the impending cyber apocalypse! Kenji is your typical teenage misfit. He's good at math, bad with girls, and spends most of his time hanging out in the all-powerful, online community known as OZ. His second life is the only life he has - until the girl of his dreams, Natsuki, hijacks him for a starring role as a fake fiance at her family reunion. Things only get stranger from there. A late-night email containing a cryptic mathematic riddle leads to the unleashing of a rogue AI intent on using the virtual word of OZ to destroy the real world, literarily. As Armageddon looms on the horizon, Kenji and his new "family" set aside their differences and band together to save the worlds they inhabit in this "near-perfect blend of social satire and science fiction".

Manga Entertainment will be releasing Summer Wars on the 28th March 2011

Hot on the heels of news about Mekhi Phifer being cast yesterday, today Deadline reports long-time Hollywood actor Bill Pullman will be joining the cast of Torchwood: The New World. He will be playing one of the lead roles in the series, that of the psychotic Oswald Jones.

Like Phifer, Pullman was born in New York (1953). Starting out in the theatre, he made the move to the big screen in the 1986 film Ruthless People (with Bette Midler and Danny De Vito); he quickly rose to lead role status the following year in the Mel Brooks sci-fi spoof Spaceballs, and he has since been involved in a number of successful films, including Sleepless in Seattle, While You Were Sleeping, and Casper. However, his sci-fi credentials are probably best represented in what is possibly his highest profile role, portraying President of the United States Thomas Whitmore in the Will Smith/Jeff Goldblum blockbuster, Independence Day.

On television, he is best known for playing Harvard scientist and astrophysicist Bill Massey in the supernatural thriller series Revelations.

OSWALD JONES
Oswald Jones is dangerously clever, a psychotic, convicted murderer and paedophile. He escapes his lifelong prison sentence on a technicality and quickly becomes a media sensation.

Wednesday, 15 December 2010

The following new titles will make their English-language debut next summer:
- Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney returns in this new manga series written by Kenji Kuroda and illustrated by Kazuo Maekawa. Volume 1 releases in June followed by Volume 2 in August.
- Monster Hunter Orage, by Fairy Tail creator Hiro Mashima, is adapted from the Capcom game and debuts in June, with a second volume in August.
- And speaking of Hiro Mashima, his bestselling Rave Master series wraps up with an omnibus collecting the final three volumes of the series in May!
- Deltora Quest, adapted by Makoto Niwano from Emily Rodda�s novels, debuts in July. The anime is currently running on TV on The Hub.
- The Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex adapts the story from the anime, which is inspired by the works of Masamune Shirow. TGITS:SAC is adapted by Yu Kinutani.
- Sanami Matoh�s Until the Full Moon makes its triumphant return to the U.S. in July. This story of a boy who becomes a girl under the full moon turns the werewolf legend on its head!
- Mardock Scramble is adapted by Yoshitoki Oima from Tow Ubukata�s novel. This exciting sci-fi tale has also been adapted into a stunning anime. The first volume releases in August.
- Animal Land, by manga legend and Zatch Bell creator Makoto Raiku, tells the hilarious and heartwarming story of a baby raised by animals. This is set for an August release.
- Masashi Tanaka�s Gon returns, giving fans a chance to rediscover the adventures of this ferocious, tiny dinosaur! August release.
- Bloody Monday, written by Ryou Ryumon and illustrated by Kouji Megumi, is an exciting thriller about a computer hacker�s attempt to foil a terrorist plot! August release.
- Cage of Eden by Yoshinobu Yamada is best described as Battle Royale meets Lost by way of Negima! August release.
- And finally, Negima! gets an omnibus release in June, collecting the first three volumes with a new translation!

It is with sincere regret that Manga Entertainment has decided to discontinue the series, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood on Blu-ray. This difficult decision had to be made in light of the high production costs of producing the series on Blu-ray and the disappointingly low sales of Part 1 and 2 on the format. To clarify, this will mean that there will be no new Blu-ray sets released by Manga Entertainment after Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood � Part Two. However, the series will continue to be released on DVD with Part Three released on 23rd February 2011, Part Four to be released on 25th April and Part 5 released on the 12th September (to be confirmed).

Jerome Mazandarani, Marketing Manager from Manga Entertainment has offered This sincere apologies to all fans that will be disappointed with this decision:

�It is never our intention at Manga Entertainment to disappoint our very loyal customers who we appreciate enjoy collecting a complete series on their favourite format. However, the exceptionally high inception costs involved in releasing the series on Blu-ray and the relatively small sales we enjoy in the UK have made the endeavor unviable. I cannot apologize enough to the fans that have already started collecting the series on Blu-ray for the disappointment this may cause them. I sincerely hope that you will continue to collect the series on DVD.�

01. The Doctor finally tells a lie too big for the psychic paper.
02. "The other half is ****** the *****."
03. We learn exactly why bow-ties are cool.
04. Abigail breaks into song twice, but there's an interesting reason why.
05. The Doctor once spent a revealing evening with Frank Sinatra, Einstein and Father Christmas.
06. "Why are they singing?" "For ***** *****."
07. Turns out The Doctor is rubbish at card tricks.
08. "Marilyn, get your coat!"
09. Kazran gets a glimpse at his past, present and future - but not in the way you might expect.
10. "No chance. Completely impossible. Except at Christmas."

01. Peter Bowles isn't in it. Laura Rogers and Bailey Pepper play Steve North's wife and son. Leo Bill sits on the bridge of the spaceship and doesn't say much.
02. Arthur Darvill appears in the opening credits in a font size that's bigger than his role in this story.
03. There are some really good jokes. We liked the one about kissing and screwdrivers …
04. Continuity geeks will notice nice nods to Pyramids of Mars and School Reunion.
05. Utah isn't this Doctor's first visit to the States.
06. You'll believe a shark can fly. Only the sourest of critics would say it's been jumped over.
07. Michael Gambon is so good he's in it twice.
08. The fez makes a cameo appearance.
09. Katherine Jenkins sings powerfully. Her lungs are set at 11.
10. Toby Haynes is a genius.

A number of videos have been released on the BBC website in the last couple of days relating to publicity for the Christmas special, A Christmas Carol; these appeared on BBC news programmes, but are sometimes extended versions online.

In this video, Matt Smith talks to Lizo Mzimba about his thoughts on the Christmas special, during which he was asked if he felt any pressure over ratings with previous specials doing so well at Christmas:
I hope it continues to do well, I really do. Yeah, but I can't really feel any pressure for it because I've done it now, I've made it, so c'est la vie, what will be will be, it's out of my control. But I think it's a great episode and it will be a nice way to spend it with someone.
Matt was also very surprised to find out that he'd been known as the Doctor for nigh on two years:
"Is it really? Blimey oh Riley. God, that's a long time, isn't it! It's whizzed by I suppose because we're very busy up in Cardiff, but, yeah it's been a wonderful two years, it's been a privilege to play it, I have to say, and it's been a great experience for me, it really has."
The video includes several brief scenes from A Christmas Carol.

Children's news programme Newsround featured a truncated version of the above video, which was broadcast during their television bulletins. Here, Matt talked about emotional impact of the special:
It's a very Christmassy Doctor Who, and I think that Stephen (Moffat) has interpreted and managed the spirits of the Doctor. Particularly in the retelling of classical stories, anyway; if you look back at the classic stories that tend to hit us over Christmas, a lot of the great ones do pull at the heart strings.

As reported earlier tonight, Katherine Jenkins visited her old primary school in the afternoon. During this video, she was asked how she found filming for her first acting role in a BBC Wales production:
Well we filmed it over about three/four weeks, in Wales of course, and so that was lovely because I was able to come home and see the family. It's challenging in so many ways because I'd never done any green screen stuff either, so all the sleigh/carriage stuff, the flying scenes ... when you're just in a room with a fan and having to scream on tap, you know, it was sometimes quite wierd. But lots of fun, cos I was in the carriage sometimes with Matt, and sometimes with Michael Gambon and so we had a really good laugh.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-11993957
I cannot thank them enough, the whole Doctor Who family have been brilliant at making me feel very welcome and making me feel like I could do this. Matt is so energetic and so enthusiastic, and I kept thinking I when was doing scenes with Sir Michael Gambon, "how has this happened, how am I acting here across from Dumbledore" - it was just a very surreal moment.

This is my debut, and for it to be such a typically Welsh show, I think that was part as well in making me feel so at ease, because most of the crew are Welsh-based. Yeah, it was really, really lovely and I've got great memories of it and I don't think I could have done it without everyone being involved.

Monday saw television critic Alison Graham on BBC's Breakfast chatting about what she thinks are the programmes to watch over Christmas; Doctor Who was of course one of her favourites, which she discusses in this video segment from the programme.
The special I thought was lovely, it was very, very, very Christmassy, it was snowy, based on A Christmas Carol, so can't get more Christmassy! One man has the power to rescue everybody, but he's Michael Gambon, a very Scrooge type, so the ghost of Christmas past, who's the Doctor, comes in and tries to make him see the error of his ways. I loved it, quite warmed my heart!

Tuesday, 14 December 2010

Last night saw a special preview of the forthcoming Christmas special A Christmas Carol take place at the British Film Institute. The episode was then followed by a Q&A session with Matt Smith (the 11th Doctor), Katherine Jenkins (Abigail Pettigrew), and lead writer/executive producer Steven Moffat; Karen Gillan (Amy) was also at the event, but remained in the audience.

When asked about some of the elements and emotion displayed in the episode, Stephen Moffat replied:

Well, the base line of Doctor Who is a man who lives in a telephone box and saves the universe in a bow tie. So you have to go some to up that. And if you’re going to do a Christmas Day episode, which is basically the principle that the audience have had a selection box for breakfast and are probably drunk, then you actually have to sort of move it on a bit. Because, actually, a normal episode of Doctor Who wouldn’t be enough at that point.

I think you have to be emotional. I think you have to go on the whole journey, don’t you? You have to laugh and cry a bit. A Christmas Carol, oddly enough, the original, is sort of the whole package. It’s A Wonderful Life, which is kind of in a way a variant of A Christmas Carol, is the same. Yes, I think you should be…as I say, you’re full of sugar and alcohol, you’re going to be tripped off into any place at any time.
Matt Smith also responded to Katherine Jenkins on this being her first acting role:

I have to say all I was struck by was…it never seemed for a moment that you hadn’t acted before. You were completely well prepared. Because on the one hand, you’ve got Katherine being very diligent and accessing real emotion and really getting in there. Then me and Michael (Gambon) just sort of dossing down. And so I was utterly impressed and she was thoroughly prepared and I’m convinced that she’ll go on and do other parts.

As one might expect, a number of plot points have been discussed and since reported in the media, but we will not be reproducing them due to their spoiler potential for the Christmas Day episode; however, you can read a comprehensive review of both the story and the Q&A from journalist Ian Wylie's blog, Life of Wylie.

Other reviews may be found in The Guardian, BBC News, and Den of Geek.

Deadline is reporting that American actor Mekhi Phifer is to join the cast of Torchwood: The New World playing Rex Matheson, one of the three leads, alongside John Barrowman and Eve Myles.

Mekhi Phifer is best known for his role as Dr. Gregory Pratt on NBC's long-running medical drama ER.

Born in New York, his acting career began when he was selected for the leading role in Spike Lee's Clockers a role for which he won critical acclaim for his performance as Strike, a young New Jersey drug dealer involved in a murder cover-up. He later appeared in the comedy spoof High School High, in the Columbia/Tristar thriller I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and in Soul Food. In 2002, Phifer starred as Future, opposite Eminem, in Curtis Hanson's film, 8 Mile. Phifer's other television credits include leading roles in MTV's film Carmen: A Hip Hopera and in A Lesson Before Dying a role which eearned him an NAACP Image Award Nomination. He was a regular on the Fox crime show Lie to Me.

REX MATHESON

He’s 28, the golden boy.

Has been, all his life. Harvard education, fast-tracker in the C.I.A., destined for success. Though he’s never taken it easy – Rex hustles, seduces and campaigns to get where he is today. He can talk his way into anything, then charm his way out, fast. He’s made a lot of enemies, but his friends and lovers would defend him to death. His choice of career is significant. Someone like Rex could make a fortune in Wall Street, or Hollywood. But choosing the C.I.A. says a lot about him: that for all his swagger, he does believe in justice. And will fight for it.

Slowly but surely, we see him make friends. He’s thrown together a bunch of people known as Torchwood, the only people who might have the answer to a global mystery. To Rex, at first, they’re a bunch of freaks. Welsh women and World War 2 Captains, what’s that about?! But as they race from one crisis to another, dodging assassins, blackmail, corruption and conspiracy, from Washington to Wales and the slums of Shanghai, Rex forges friendships in the heat of fire. He learns to trust his new colleagues. And they realize that this dangerous, dazzling, reckless man is the best friend they could ever have, in a world going to hell.